N44.4bn Eurobond earns GTBank ‘The Banker —Deal of the year award’

Guaranty Trust Bank’s bid which won the $350 million (N44.4billion)-8.5 percent Eurobond due 2012 has earned the bank ‘The Banker-deal of the year award’.
IHEANYI NWACHUKWU, SIMON UGWU

GTBank has become the first Nigerian bank to win such award by The Banker, Financial Times of London. In a letter signed by Louis Azode, country representative, The Banker, Financial Times of London, made available to Business Day, the Eurobond deal is hugely significant and indicative of the strides that Nigeria has made in improving it credit rating, "as few foreign investors would not have touched Nigeria outside of oil and gas sector, not too long ago".

In January 2007, GTBank launched a five year $350million (N44.4billion) Eurobond, the first dollar-denominated Eurobond issued by Nigerian bank or company in the global capital market.

The initial $300 million (N38.1billion) was 1.7 times oversubscribed and $350 million (N44.4billion) in orders were eventually allotted. The bond according to our source was priced at an effective yield to maturity of 8.62 percent.

The deal of the year award, according to Azode is being given to GTBank this week at Bahrain in the Middle East, "as Bahrain, an oil-rich country opens its ultra-modern and most impressive Bahrain Financial Harbour, indicative of efficient utilisation of oil money".

"Meanwhile, Standard Bank and Afrinvest were the joint lead managers. Standard Bank was the sole book-runner". Azode noted that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) won the ‘first global deal of the year award’ with its $21.9billion (N2.7trillion) initial public offer (IPO).

"It was a unanimous decision by the judges of The Banker that ICBC’s IPO on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges is the world’s largest deal to date. The transaction was most spectacular for a bank that had more than 27 percent non-performing assets about two years ago.

Equally, South Africa’s $1.1 billion (N139.7billion) Kumba Resource Unbundling and Eyesizwe Consortium Black Economic Empowerment Transaction grabbed the ‘regional award for African continent’.

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